Former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, have asked a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to dismiss a suit seeking to stop Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
The court presided over by Justice Peter Lifu fixed May 26, 2026 for a composite judgment, including a ruling on an application by the plaintiff, who is an Abuja-based lawyer Johnmary Jideobi, asking the judge to recuse himself from the matter.
In the originating summons, Jideobi asked the court to determine “whether in view of the combined provisions of sections 1(1), (2) and (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, the 1st defendant (Jonathan) is eligible, under any circumstances whatsoever, to contest for the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Jideobi argued that Jonathan had exhausted the constitutional limit for the office, having completed the tenure of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before serving another full term after the 2011 election.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, Emmanuel Agida, who deposed on behalf of Jideobi, stated that Jonathan was first sworn in as president on May 6, 2010, following Yar’Adua’s death, and again on May 29, 2011, after winning the presidential election.
On Monday, May 18, 2026, Jideobi filed an application asking Justice Lifu to withdraw from the case over alleged bias, claiming the court shortened the 14 days initially granted to respond to Jonathan’s counter-affidavit and preliminary objection.
However, counsel to Jonathan, Chris Uche, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the suit and award N50 million costs against the plaintiff saying that the former president’s counter-affidavit and preliminary objection clear;y addressed it.
Uche further cited previous judgments, including those in suits filed by Andy Solomon and Cyracus Njoku against Jonathan, which he told the court were outrightly dismissed.
The counsel to Jonathan specifically argued that the amendment to Section 137(3) of the Constitution, which bars persons who had taken the oath of office more than twice from seeking the same office, could not be applied retroactively against Jonathan, who contested the 2015 election.
Uche further said that Jideobi was attempting to use litigation as a political tool to exclude Jonathan, despite constitutional provisions allowing qualified citizens to seek elective office, stressing that the plaintiff has no locus standi to bring the action just as no cause of action has crystallised.
He also argued that for the plaintiff to establish locus standi, he must show how the matter directly affected him and also prove that he was a registered voter interested in who governed the country.
Also addressing the court, the Director of Civil Litigation and Public Law at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Dr Maimuna Lamin Shiru, asked the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
But, counsel to the plaintiff, Ndubuisi Ukpai, said that being a registered voter was not a condition for instituting the suit, thus urged the court to dismiss the objections and counter-affidavit filed by Jonathan and the Federal Ministry of Justice.
